A Defective Hero
by Rachel Erica
Summary: Zim rescues Dib from a terrifying, tragic experience, which later causes Dib to learn something he never knew about his alien nemesis and an understanding of this strengthens their frienenmiship. The story is way better than the summary. ZADF.


Dib walked toward his home down the deserted city sidewalks on a dark night. With his hands resting in his coat pockets, he glared down at his feet, watching them as they passed by each seam in the concrete sidewalk. With every step, he felt his bottled up frustration expand as he continued to stew over a specific event that caused him to be returning home at such an ungodly late hour.

"Today class," Ms. Bitters began in her usual grouchy tone, "we are going to learn about the rare purple moose. So open your text books and begin copying the entire chapter starting on page 654."

Many of the students in the class moaned and whined as they reluctantly pulled their text books out of their desks and searched for the page.

Zim raised his hand after finding the correct page.

Ms. Bitters sighed. "Yes Zim?"

"Ms. Bitters, I have a sudden urge to use the bathroom!" Zim said loudly. "May I be excused?"

"Fine. You've got five minutes."

Zim saluted the teacher respectfully before marching out of the door and into the hall.

Zim chose the largest stall on the end of the rows as the setting for his newest evil plan. As he shut and latched the stall door, he snickered to himself. His PAK opened and a mechanical arm rose out of it and handed him a red pail full of mud. Zim smirked evilly as he dumped the brown contents of the bucket into the toilet. He carelessly tossed the bucket aside and began to unravel the thick roll of toilet paper. He bunched the toilet paper together and stuffed it into the toilet. He flushed the toilet by pressing the lever with his foot, refusing to touch it with his hands. The toilet struggled and the dirty water overflowed the toilet and flooded the stall. Zim laughed menacingly.

"And now to finish it off…"

He pulled a red sharpie out of his PAK and wrote in huge letters on the stall door, "_Happy corn and mayonnaise day! Love, Dib_."

With a feeling of accomplishment, Zim returned to his class.

Ms. Bitters' class was silent as the students reluctantly worked on the pointless assignment that they were ordered to do. Dib was barely working on his assignment as he was busy watching Zim's every move.

"_Every time Zim asks to use the bathroom, something happens. I'm just waiting for it," _Dib thought.

The janitor burst into the room, causing the whole class to jump out of their pants.

"Which one of you little rodents is Dib?" He shouted angrily.

Everyone, including Ms. Bitters, pointed at Dib. Dib said nothing, but knew whatever it was, it had something to do with Zim.

"You blew up the biggest toilet in the boys' bathroom and wrote '_Happy corn and mayonnaise day'_ on the stall door!" The janitor shouted as he approached Dib's desk.

"What? No I didn't! I haven't been to the bathroom all day!" Dib defended. "It's not even corn and mayonnaise day!"

"Then I suppose the note on the door wrote itself," the Janitor argued sarcastically.

"Zim…" Dib hissed as he glared daggers at Zim across the room.

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"SILENCE!" Ms. Bitters cut in between the bickering. "Dib, so that you will learn to control your bowels, you will clean all the school bathrooms after school."

"What?"

Dib's steaming mind was brought back to the present by a chilling, autumn breeze blowing past him. The eerie, lonesome sound of the wind reminded him that it was late, dark, and he was alone in a high crime city. Becoming more aware of the danger of his situation, he started to walk faster. He glanced up at the streetlights smirking menacingly down upon him. He couldn't go by them fast enough.

Though Dib felt certain that he was alone, he couldn't help feeling the presence of someone else nearby. It did not seem at all like a presence just passing through as he was, but more of a menacing presence. It felt like this menacing presence was stalking him, waiting for him.

Dib's heart pounded in his chest faster and faster as this presence seemed to get closer. Perhaps to make himself less vulnerable, or to assure himself that no one was there, he spun around and studied the part of the city he'd left behind him. He saw no one. The streets were silent and empty. His heart began to slow down as he continued on home, walking fast. He was still unable to shake the feeling that he was being stalked.

The eerie feeling got the strongest as he passed by an alley between two vacant apartments. Before he could scream, he felt an arm wrap around his jaw, muffling any sound that he could make. He squirmed, kicked, and even attempted to bite the arm around his jaw, but nothing fazed this unknown attacker. Dib continued to fight as the attacker dragged him into the alley.

With Gir on a leash, Zim walked down the deserted city streets. This side of the city was always his favorite place to think at this hour of the night. They were empty, quiet, the perfect place to contemplate on how he would take over the world. Unlike Dib, he had no need to worry about being attacked on these streets. His PAK had everything that he needed to protect himself in the case of being mugged, jumped, raped, or abducted. He had nothing to worry about; he was at ease.

He laughed to himself as he reminisced on the prank he had pulled on Dib earlier that day.

"Hey Gir, you know what I did to the Dib today?" he said to his minion with an evil smirk.

"Hm?"

"I filled one of the school's toilets full of mud, stuffed it with toilet paper to clog it up, and wrote '_Happy corn and mayonnaise day! Love, Dib_' on the door. The toilet overflowed and everything; it was great," Zim said laughably.

"Did he get in trouble?"

"Yup. Ms. Bitters made him stay after school and clean all the bathrooms. He may still be at school. Stupid human."

"Does this mean we can take over the Earth now?" Gir asked with a hopeful tone.

"Nah, this had nothing to do with our mission. It was simply for my own entertainment," Zim laughed. "The human will attempt to get me back somehow, but oh well."

Dib continued to fight his attacker, but to no avail.

"Listen kid, give me all the money in your pocket and we won't have any trouble!" the attacker hissed at the child.

"I don't have any money on me, sir!" Dib replied in a desperate, frightened tone. "Please just let me go!"

"What's a kid like you doing roaming these streets at this hour anyways?"

"I'm just trying to get home! I had to stay in school late!"

"You wanna know what happens to little kids who are bad at school and walk home late on these streets?" The man pinned Dib to the ground. Dib squirmed desperately but to no avail.

"Please let me go," Dib pleaded.

The man attempted to undo the button on Dib's pants, but Dib kicked and made it difficult for him. He kicked with all his might and screamed at the top of his lungs, but just as he, the man was relentless.

Zim and Gir heard a commotion as they approached an alley.

"Sounds like someone's in trouble," Gir said.

Zim said nothing, but listened carefully to the distressed cry of the child. In a flash, he left Gir standing where he was and bolted toward the alley.

The man had successfully unbuttoned Dib's pants, but was still struggling to get any further due to Dib's resistance. He punched him in the face to silence his screaming, which only left him slightly dazed and broke his glasses.

"UHHAND THAT HELPLESS CHILD!" Zim shouted as he ran into the alley and attacked the man. They toppled off of Dib and rolled toward a dumpster. Zim had a grip on the man's shirt as he punched him in the face numerous times. The man was surprised at how strong he was for his size.

Through the darkness, Dib could not see who was attacking his attacker. He sat there shaking as he listened to the commotion and could only make out some of the movements as the two fought.

The man gained some composure and punched Zim in the cheek, causing his head to jerk sideways. Zim was only slightly fazed by this hit and decided to bust out the big guns. A large, mechanical mallet extended from out of his PAK and nailed the man square in the side of his head, knocking him out cold. He stared at the man for a moment.

Dib's tension rose as the alley went silent. One of them was defeated, but who?

A small figure, not much taller than him, descended from the darkness and rushed toward him. It reached out a hand to help him up, gripped his wrist and jerked him toward the exit of the alley as he ran with him.

"We have to get out of here while he's still unconscious!" Zim shouted frantically as they edged closer to the exit.

Dib couldn't believe what he heard. That was the voice of his enemy. The one who was trying to take over his planet, who got him laughed at and into trouble almost every day.

They exited the alley and went out onto the lit sidewalks of the street and continued to run. Gir saw them run out and followed behind, dropping the ice cream that he had had stored in his head and decided to eat while Zim was fighting.

The three ran for about a half of a mile and stopped, tired out from the running. Zim released Dib's wrist and just stood there panting, looking ahead at the street.

"Zim…I…I don't understand…why did you save me?" Dib asked with bewilderment and still trembling from the experience.

Zim hesitated. "Are you alright, human?" he asked.

"Well I'm not really hurt physically, but I'm s-scared out of my m-mind…"

"I know why you're coming home late, but what are you doing taking this way home at this hour? An inferior human child cannot defend itself on these streets!"

"I was so steamed over what you pulled in school today that I wasn't really thinking about which way I was going," Dib explained with a shrug. "Why'd you do that anyways?"

Zim laughed. "No reason, simply for my entertainment."

"No, no, not that; I don't care about that anymore. I mean, why did you save me? You hate me."

Zim looked around. "We better get moving. I don't know how long that guy will be unconscious and who knows what he'll do once he comes to." Zim began to walk away.

"Okay…" Dib replied suspiciously as he followed Zim and caught up with him quickly. "What are _you_ doing out on these streets at this hour anyway?"

"I usually take a walk on this side of the city around this time; it's quiet and peaceful," Zim replied.

"Don't you worry about getting attacked?"

"Not at all, I have everything I need to protect myself if necessary. I have bigger guns in my PAK than any human can pull out of their pocket."

"I still don't understand though; why did you save me? You don't seem to want to answer that question."

Zim sighed. "Dib-worm, an explanation for that would require letting you in on the history of my life, and I just can't share that with my enemy or anyone for that matter. Zim does not wish to be that personal with any life form."

"You won't get personal with anyone, but you'll save the life of your enemy?" Dib questioned.

"I may not wish to have friends, but I'm not cold and unfeeling, though it would be nice if I could be. That's the way that my race wants me to be."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Perhaps Zim has said too much," Zim said hesitantly.

"Why don't you just tell me? If it's a secret, it's not like I'm gonna tell anybody. Who could I tell? Gaz doesn't care and it's not like I have any friends either."

"I'm not worried about you telling anybody because no one would believe you anyway."

"Then what's the big deal?"

"It's no business of yours!"

"I can't argue there. Sorry, I'm just confused, I guess."

Zim sighed. "If I tell you, you will never speak of it again, understand?"

"I promise."

"Good. Well, I guess it started when I was born. Like all Irken smeets, I was born crying."

An Irken nurse with sapphire eyes cradled in her arms the naked, crying newborn whose eyes were yet to have even opened. Another nurse with emerald eyes approached her with a small PAK. The sapphire nurse carefully turned the infant on his stomach and exposed his back to the other nurse so she could attach the PAK. To their surprise, the infant continued to cry.

"Hmm…" the emerald nurse said. "The PAK should have made the crying stop."

"The PAKs are supposed to eliminate all emotions dealing with caring, sympathy, empathy, affection, and any form of pain," Zim explained to Dib.

"Is my baby okay?" The mother asked with concern as she lay in the hospital bed.

"He may be defective, but there's a chance that it may just be a defective PAK. It's not likely, though, considering you are defective as well," The emerald nurse said in an icy tone. "It may very well be genetic. We'll run some tests."

With that, both nurses left with the crying smeet.

The father of the child looked sternly at the mother (not married. Not even in a relationship).

"If it turns out that he is defective, we're gonna allow them to exterminate him. We don't need anymore defects like you roaming this superior planet," he said to her coldly.

"I thought you wanted to help raise this smeet!" the mother snapped.

"I only wished to do that if he wasn't defective. I will not raise a defective child."

Due to the highly advanced Irken technology, the tests were very quick. The nurses came back in the room, one of them holding the smeet.

"Your child is defective," the sapphire nurse said. "You have the option to raise the child anyway, though we advise against this, or we can exterminate him for you."

The child's mother shuddered at the thought of her smeet being killed. "I want to raise him."

"If you raise that child, you will do it alone!" the father said venomously.

"Then so be it," the mother said boldly. She was handed her smeet, who was now sleeping, and a joyful tear rolled down her cheek as she watched him sleep and kissed his head.

"My mother, God bless her, did everything she could to protect me as I grew up," Zim said sadly, "but it wasn't enough. We were considered inferior. Many times we were beaten, oppressed, and sometimes raped because we were defective and because of this it was allowed. I saved you because I care about your well-being, even though I really don't wish to."

Dib was at a loss for words. "Wow…I…I had no idea. But how did you get the privilege of being an invader if you're defective?"

"Many on my planet that have known me in my later years don't know that I'm defective. I've become quite good at not showing those kind of emotions," Zim explained.

"I feel like I shouldn't have made you tell me all that," Dib said apologetically. "I'm…sorry…"

Zim shrugged. "Well the cat's out of the bag now."

The two finally reached Dib's house and stopped.

Dib awkwardly hugged Zim. "Thank you for saving me." One tear escaped his eye. "Who knows where I'd be right now if you hadn't been in the right place in the nick of time."

Zim didn't hug back, nor did he really know how to react. "Um…yeah…you're welcome."

Dib released Zim and gave him a warm, friendly smile. "See ya tomorrow, Irken scum!"

Zim gave a small smile, and then laughed. "I'll see you as well, filthy human pig-smelly!"

"But really Zim, I can't thank you enough. I owe you my life."

"Well lucky for you I'm defective, or else I might have to take you up on that offer," Zim joked and punched Dib's arm playfully. "So…how are you feeling after…you know?"

"I'm still feeling pretty shaken over it, but I'll be fine."

"Oh well in that case…" Zim shoved Dib. Dib, caught off guard, fell and landed on his butt. "This frienemiship will continue!" Zim ran off toward his home, laughing. "Zim shall rule this filthy planet!"

"Not while I'm around, Zim!" Dib shouted off in the distance. He picked himself up off the ground and headed into his house to get ready for bed. "Best frienemies forever," he mumbled to himself laughably.

**I'm posting this story, not totally sure about it. I worry that I made it too drastic, but I don't know. Please be nice. Lol.**


End file.
